The present disclosure relates to manufacture of printed packages or secure documents. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to secure printing by embossing patterns or signatures into a printed package or packing seal.
Counterfeiting is a serious problem affecting nearly all aspects of the manufacturing industry. In efforts to prevent counterfeiting, many manufacturers started to add security features to packaging. One security feature involves branding, or stamping, a product with a licensed image or trademark that indicate the manufactured item is a genuine product of the manufacturer. However, this approach merely slows counterfeiters while they also change their manufacturing processes and techniques to duplicate the changes made by the genuine manufacturers.
Counterfeiting is particularly widespread in the pharmaceutical industry. With the advance of foreign manufacturers and Internet pharmacies, counterfeit medications are becoming a serious threat to the pharmaceutical industry. Counterfeit drugs are sometimes made from different or inferior products that could cause detrimental effects in a patient. In some extreme cases, a patient could even die after receiving a counterfeit medication that is not correctly manufactured or is labeled incorrectly.
To avoid confusion with counterfeited goods, many pharmaceutical companies started to manufacture custom packaging with printed seals, which indicate authenticity. These printed seals enclose the caps or lids of the medication bottles, and include a stamping or printing from the manufacturer. However, this approach merely deterred some counterfeiters, who, after a period of time, began copying the printed seals as well, thereby producing an accurate packing containing counterfeit medications.